Meetings Between Worlds
by Takada Saiko
Summary: The TARDIS delivers the Doctor, Amy, and Rory to Pete's World where the Meta-Crisis Doctor is requesting his original self's help to discover the purpose of a group that is infiltrating Torchwood in their world. R&R
1. Chapter 1

A/N: So, I've been kicking this idea around for a looooong while. I am a huge 10th Doctor fan. 9 follows him and I am still trying to warm up to 11. I adore Amy and Rory (and River!), but for some reason I just still haven't entirely warmed up to 11. Saying that, I think I'd just have a heart attack if they killed him off and replaced him again. I just really want to go back to the 10th Doctor/ Rose era. 9/Rose and 10/Rose are seriously my favorite pairings. Don't even get me started on what they did with Torchwood. I'm refusing to watch it this season I'm so angry.

Anyway, all that to say: I was thinking about how to write a story with Amy, Rory, Rose, and the 10th Doctor in it and this is my answer to that interesting problem. I hope you like it.

**WARNING: SPOILERS UP THROUGH THE LATEST EPISODE BEFORE THE SUMMER BREAK!**

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><p><strong>Chapter One<strong>

Time Lords, in general, needed much less sleep than Humans, and The Doctor was no exception. In fact, he preferred to sleep even less than others that had once been apart of his now extinct race. Granted, it had been the mass destruction of said race that often kept him from sleeping when his companions finally crashed for what might have been the night. The screams of Time Lords, dying within the Time War, echoed within his mind as he closed his eyes for sleep.

Within the past few years, though, something else had joined.

Amongst the fire and the destruction stood a woman who had never seen Gallifrey. She was blonde with dark, expressive eyes and she reached for him as she screamed amongst the flames. She screamed a name that he had never taken the chance to tell her.

If Amy and Rory ever heard the Doctor's cries those rare, late nights, then they never said anything about it. Granted, the Doctor's private quarters that he kept hadn't been seen by a human since his blonde companion that haunted his dreams, and he didn't think that the Ponds would have even known where to look for him.

It was one of those nights that the Doctor found himself sitting under the control panel, tinkering idly without any bits of circuitry that he could find. His fingers felt numb as they worked wiring together, speaking in low tones to his TARDIS as if he expected her to answer back as she once had.

"Couldn't sleep?"

The Doctor jumped, startled by the Scottish drawl behind him. He turned to see the pretty ginger woman leaning down, looking beneath flooring.

"Oh, I don't need to sleep as much as you," the Time Lord responded with a shrug.

"Oh," Amy murmured, taking a seat on the stairs. "That why you took all weepy-eyed?"

Sparks flew from the wires put together and he blinked up at her. "Weepy-eyed?"

"Weepy-eyed," she confirmed with a raised eyebrow. She paused, staring at the man that she had known since she was seven. Her magnificent, fantasy-turned-realty had been half way ordered to bed earlier that evening (not that he would ever admit that she could order anything of him) and now looked worse than he had before. The bags under his eyes were only second to the glassy sort of gleam that might have been unshed tears for whatever was keeping him awake. "What do Time Lords dream about, anyway?" she asked after a moment, placing her chin against the heels of her hands and her elbows on her pajama-clad knees.

"Oh, you know, stuff," he answered and turned back to his tinkering. When he felt her green eyes boring into the back of his head he sighed deeply, allowing his arms to fall limply at his sides and he merely hung there in the maintenance brace for a moment before speaking. "We dream of many things, or we would, if there were still a we. Of fire and burning planets and decisions that had to be made. Of people we've lost and…" He took a shaky breath, the image of the blonde woman flashing through his mind's eye. She was standing hand in hand with another man, ready to live a new life out with him. "And of all the sacrifices we've made to do what's right."

Amy was silent for several long moments and the Doctor couldn't bear to turn and meet her eyes. After a long moment he heard the very quiet padding of her feet as she made her way down below the deck and her small, thin hands rested on his shoulders. He sat there, numb, until her arms wrapped around his neck from behind and she whispered in his ear, "I'm sorry."

"For what?" he murmured.

"Just… That you're dreaming about….."

"Oh," he laughed, rolling his eyes dramatically. "I'm all right. Really."

She sniffed, stood straight, and punched him playfully. "You better be, Mister, because you're supposed to be the King of OK."

"I thought we'd decided that was a rubbish title!" he protested, causing her to laugh and easing the tension that had filled the room.

"And bow ties are cool."

"And a fez."

"No. Absolutely no fez."

"Really, you're up at this hour to decide on fezzes?" Rory's exhausted voice sounded behind them, causing alien and human to turn around. He looked disheveled and slightly irritated that he'd had to track his wife down in the middle of the night.

"'Course not!" the Doctor answered with a grin, sliding from the harness. "Just trying to decide on our next destination. What about you, Rory the Roman? Where'd you like to go?"

"I get to decide?"

"Yeah! Why not? We can pop over to some planet or some other time. Just give me the -"

There was a sudden shake and the TARDIS gave a lurch that threw her passengers off their feet. The Doctor pulled himself off of the floor and ran to the controls, pulling levers and pushing buttons the whole way.

"What happened?" Amy demanded

"I don't know. The TARDIS isn't given me a decent readout!" The Doctor rounded the console and pulled the screen down to eye-level just about the time that his ship threw them all to the side once more. He skidded across the smooth floor and into the wall, hitting it hard. He grunted on impact and scurried to pull himself back up and to the screen. "She's settling down now," he murmured as he read the machinery. "Looks like we've landed somewhere."

"Where?" his ginger companion asked.

"I don't know," he acknowledged with a frustrated sigh. "I don't-" He stopped, paling considerably. "It's not possible. Not even… It's _impossible_!"

"What is, Doctor?" Rory asked, trying to see over the Time Lord's shoulder to the information he was looking at.

"This is wrong. And bad. Very, very bad."

"What the hell is going on?" Amy demanded.

"We have to go now." The Doctor moved to the controls and the TARDIS acted, for one brief moment, as if she were about to fire back up and shift into an other place, but the engines sputtered out and the lights went suddenly dim, leaving all three companions to stand there and stare at the now dark control panel. The only light still flashing was the alarm that alerted them of danger "Well that's not good."

"She won't start?" Rory asked, glancing back at his wife.

Amy Pond gave him a half smirk before shrugging. "Guess we have to find out what's going on the old fashion way: look." She moved over to the entrance before the Doctor could stop her and flung the doors to the TARDIS open to a world that could have been Earth. Earth 2011, even. They had landed in a field of some sort with sheep around and a dust cloud kicking up in the distance. After a moment a jeep appeared out of the cloud – showing to be the cause – and sped towards them. It stopped a ways out and a single form piled out and appeared to be running towards them.

"Amy, come on back in," Rory pleaded as he eyed the approaching man suspiciously. The Doctor rarely wanted to leave without an investigation, and when he did there was usually a very good reason behind his actions.

"Not like we're going anywhere," she popped off and leaned against the doorframe. "Maybe these people can help."

"Doubt that," the Doctor murmured as he moved towards her. Might as well get this over and done with as quickly as possible.

The figure slowed to a jog a few yards away and grinned widely on approach. He appeared to be out of breath, but his dark eyes were bright and, if Amy gave into first impression, full of underlying mischief. "'allo!" he greeted. "Look at this. Thought this was impossible. Should have been impossible. Must be impossible, but look at this! This is why I love it. The impossible always happening! Well, where is he?"

Amy and Rory looked at each other and then at the stranger again. He stood waiting for an answer that they couldn't provide, so they looked back to the Doctor.

"Ooooh," the stranger said as if it had all become clear. Dark eyes met green. "Well now, what happened to you?"

"Long story."

"I'm sure." He stepped forward, suddenly, past Amy and Rory and into the TARDIS. The amused look never left his features as he nearly circled the Doctor and gave a small shrug. "Still not ginger."

"I know!" the Doctor exclaimed, his entire demeanor changing all at once. If he had held any uncertainty about the man before it washed away with that one statement. "Just once! I would like to be ginger just once! Is that really too much to ask?"

The slightly taller man laughed. "Rose offered hair dye once when I was complaining. Nearly took her up on it since I don't get another chance. Look at you though! You could have been ginger!"

"I'm sorry, Doctor, but who exactly is this?" Amy cut in, waving in their visitor's general direction.

The Time Lord blinked, confusion clearly passing over his face before he realized that he'd missed something. "Right. Right, of course! Amy and Rory Pond, this is what happens when a regeneration goes _really_ crazy."

The brunette grinned and gave a short wave. "Hello. I'm the Doctor."

* * *

><p>It took nearly an hour to bring Amy and Rory up to speed on just who this very Human Doctor was. Yes, he was, in fact, the Doctor. He was also Human, with all the memories of his Time Lord self. He'd been produced out of a stray hand, a fatally wounded Doctor that was regenerating, and Donna Noble. He was tall, thin, and had wilder hair than Amy's own Doctor. His eyes were darker and he just seemed… different. She couldn't place it. She didn't dislike it, particularly, but she did feel the sudden need to gab onto her Doctor and inform him that he was never allowed to change from the form that he was currently in.<p>

"So what brings you here?" the Human Doctor asked, eyeing the control room. "Love what you've done with the place, by the way."

"You know, alarms blaring and the TARDIS decided that she wanted to take a detour."

"Detour to the impossible, eh, Old Girl?" He paused, his expression turning serious as he leaned forward and steepled his fingers together. "We've had a bit of trouble lately. That's why I've been out this direction."

"Where'd we land, exactly?" the Time Lord asked.

"Just outside of London. Not a great sign, all in all. Bad Wolf Bay is one thing, but we're a far cry from there."

"Means the holes are opening back up."

"They started back up like rifts, like the one back in Cardiff, but looks like they've gone to full-sized, inter-dimensional tears now."

"So we're in a parallel universe?" All eyes turned to Rory and he swallowed hard, suddenly feeling like the student that'd asked a question that had just been covered in class while he was sleeping.

"Yes."

"But I thought that that was impossible," Amy grumbled.

"It is," her Doctor replied.

"But we've done it before," the other chimed in.

"And every time-"

"- we risk ripping a hole in the universe."

"Or both universes."

"And that's how you lot came," the Human Doctor finished, waving a hand around as if they had explained everything perfectly. He turned his attention back to his Time Lord, elder self. "The rifts began to open up about the time that strangers appeared. Rose and I don't think they're from this world, but the upper levels of Torchwood don't seem to care."

"You're both working for Torchwood now?"

The brunette nodded and then seemed to rethink his answer. "Well, technically, Rose works for them. I consult now and again. Never could sign my name to them completely, as it were."

The green-eyed Doctor nodded his agreement. "So these people, are they here to cause trouble or-"

"Don't know yet. They showed up and have been worming their way into Torchwood since." The Human Doctor's gaze turned dark and he lowered his voice, as if he weren't really comfortable with Amy and Rory listening in. "Since they've come, Torchwood seems to be pit against each other. Different parts of the organization fight with other parts, and no one seems to listen to anyone. Pete's talking about retiring from it all, but knows something else is going on, and Rose has about put her neck out too many times on too many issues. I'll admit that my senses are… dulled since the meta-crisis incident - this whole being Human thing has really taken some getting used to - but I know something's going on."

"So what brought you out here?" Amy asked, leaning back against the console and eyeing the Human Doctor suspiciously.

"They disappear for periods of time, in shifts. Rose and I think they're popping back over to their own dimension, which is opening up the holes even larger."

"But why?" the Doctor murmured, beginning to pace the room.

"That's what we're trying to find out, but we're not getting any help from Torchwood."

"Going out on your own then?"

The Human Doctor grinned widely. "'Course. So you'll come along? Two of us on the same issue is bound to turn something up."

"I really shouldn't."

"It's not like you can go anywhere now. The TARDIS seems to have shut herself down."

"Like she wants us to stay."

Both Doctors turned to Amy who had barely spoken the words out loud. She blinked owlishly at them. "What?"

"I can't," the Doctor and threw his hands into the air.

"There are people on this world you care about!" his other self argued, irritation seeming to perk.

"You'll do just fine. You seem to have been handling yourself well enough."

"Better than you'd imagined, you mean," the taller man snorted. He paused, then, eyeing his Time Lord self. "You don't want to see _her_."

"That's ridiculous."

"No it's not."

"I wouldn't refuse to help an entire planet just because-"

"Because you're afraid of seeing her!" the Human Doctor finished, seeming to have hit the nail on the head. He covered the distance between them in a couple of steps and was looking the other Doctor over very carefully now. "It's not like she'll even know. She's happy. She's not looking for you and you've gone and changed yourself again."

"I didn't want to!" the Doctor snapped.

"When did we ever?" his counterpart asked, seeming to have settled back down. He sighed. "We need you. They need us. Please, she won't know. She won't have to."

The Doctor took a deep breath as if he were about to deliver another argument, but stopped himself, looking between his Human self, Amy and Rory. Very slowly he released the breath and his shoulders slumped. "Fine. Give us a minute for the Ponds to change. Doubt they want to go wandering 'round parallel London in their jimjams."

"Best to leave the TARDIS here."

"Yes."

"Good. It's settled then. I'll meet you lot outside when you're ready. We'll take the jeep into town."

The Doctor nodded and watched the other leave. When the doors shut behind him, he turned to his companions, watching them as if he were waiting for them to follow the unspoken request of clothing.

"You do know that we're not the Ponds, right?" Rory grumbled.

"Really? That's what you took away from that?" the Doctor sighed.

"Go change," Amy ordered. "I'll be along in a minute." She waited a moment for her husband to disappear out of the console room before she put a hand on the Doctor's arm, seeming to startle him out of his thoughts. "Who is 'she,' Doctor?"

"She?"

Amy felt very sure that she was treading on territory that she should not have ever broached. She spoke carefully then, hoping that he would not shut down any further than he had all ready. "Yes. He said that you were afraid of seeing her. Who is she?"

The Doctor closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose. "She, Amelia, is Rose Tyler."

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><p>TBC<p>

A/N: So, I feel like the Meta-Crisis Doctor is a real blank pallet to work with (on top of being highly irritating in trying to write about them conversing with one another!), so I hope I'm getting him to the reader's satisfaction. There's not much from cannon to know about how he would have turned out, other than the Doctor expected that he might be difficult to manage (being born from battle and all that, not like he isn't aaaaaaalllll the time lol) and that he has all the same memories/feelings as the original Doctor. I haven't read much/anything with the Meta Crisis Doctor in it, so I don't really have a feel for how the fans see him either. Let me know if you have any suggestions. (On anything, not just him).

Also. I am addicted to reviews. Please, feed the author's addiction.


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: Hello again. I'm trying to update this once a day, but I don't know how long I'll be able to do that.

** Chapter Two**

Amy sat silently in the back seat of the jeep – an unnerving shade of TARDIS blue that should never have been associated with anyone other than _her_ Doctor – and clutched Rory's hand. She hadn't been able to relay any details of what was to come to her husband, much less what was really going on. She had seen the Doctor dive into dangerous situations without much that resembled a second thought, and if he did give it a moment's ponder, he tended to ignore any warning signs. Even though he chatted happily in the front with the man that supposedly looked identical to the form he had been in just before meeting her, Amy was sure there was still a slight tension to every move he made. She couldn't be sure if he didn't trust this Human duplicate, Rose Tyler, or himself in the entire situation.

"So who is Rose?" Rory whispered into her ear.

The ginger shook her head with a slight shrug. "He won't tell me any more than her name. Just told me to get changed and get ready."

"And from this moment on you should really not call me by my name," the Doctor said, suddenly including Amy and Rory in the conversation as if he had been speaking to them since they left the TARDIS. "What do you say John Smith? It's served me well enough."

"Why do you have to be John Smith?" Amy demanded with a huff. "He's the duplicate. Why can't he be John Smith?"

"Oh, Amy, now let's not start all _that_ again."

The Human Doctor grinned. "Sounds like fun."

"Gangers," the Doctor answered as if it were an explanation, but the other seemed to take it well enough. He turned around to his pretty companion. "And to answer your question, he gets to go by 'the Doctor' because we're not even supposed to be here. It's just best if those that I know here don't know that I'm me, understand?"

"I'm still a bit lost on how you change your face," Rory admitted quietly.

"Just take it as spacey-wacey and move on."

"Rose and the Doctor have a complicated relationship," the Time Lord's duplicate said slowly, as if he were being very careful how he worded his sentence. "He's right, it's just best."

"For all parties involved," the Doctor agreed.

"So you work with this Rose?" Amy asked.

The Human Doctor glanced back as he turned into the city. "Yes."

"And is that all?" she pressed, glancing between the two Doctors.

"And we're engaged."

"Really? When did that happen?" the Doctor asked, eyes wide and giving the other a congratulatory slap on the shoulder.

"'Bout a year ago. We've been too wrapped up in all of this to set finalized plans." He gave a somewhat sad smile. "Life just happens, I guess."

"Yes it does," the Doctor murmured. "She's… happy, then?"

"I hope so."

"Good."

"Look at all that, Doctor!" Amy breathed as she pressed her nose against the window, fogging it as she breathed. Her eyes followed the zeppelins that moved above London in awe.

"I've seen 'em a few times," the Human Doctor grinned.

"Sorry," Amy growled, her voice filled with sarcasm. "_John_, look."

The Doctor chuckled as he looked out. "Yeah, those are brilliant, aren't they? Where we going?"

"Torchwood facilities. Rose'll be in her office. I wasn't due back until tomorrow, so she'll be nose-deep in paperwork that she's been putting off."

The jeep pulled up to a large gate that was marked Downing Street, looked like Downing Street, but Amy was sure that it wasn't Downing Street. There was security and the Human Doctor flashed an ID badge and talked a moment with the guard, laughing the whole way, until the gate rose and let him drive the jeep through. He gave a wave over his shoulder as they continued down.

Security was easily breezed through with credentials that appeared to be legitimate and not the work of psychic paper. The jeep pulled into a parking and they were barely out of it when the front doors burst open and a blonde woman stood grinning. "You weren't s'posed to be back till tomorrow!" she announced as she flung herself into the Human Doctor's waiting arms.

He grinned and spun her around. "Found something," he whispered, not loud enough to be heard by the guards at the door.

Her face turned serious as he put her down and brown eyes turned towards the others that had stepped out of the TARDIS blue jeep. "You brought friends."

"I did. What do you say that you take the rest of the afternoon off and we go home to talk about this."

She nodded firmly. "I'm good to go then." She moved without warning to the Doctor and his companions. "I'm Rose Tyler, Director of the Exploratory Division of Torchwood. Welcome to London."

The Doctor stared at her outstretched hand very oddly, as if frozen in place. His eyes were locked on hers, even as she began to laugh and reached forward to shake his hand, gripping it tightly and moving it form him. "What? They don't shake hands where you're from?"

"Right. Yes," the Doctor stammered, gripping her hand. It seemed to fit perfectly as if nothing had changed in the years between their last meeting. But it had, he knew, and he was staring at her with eyes that she did not recognize and holding her with a hand that had never gripped hers. "I'm John Smith and these are the Ponds: Amy and Rory,"

"We're the Williams," Rory grumbled. "He hasn't quite gotten the hang of name changes yet."

Rose laughed at this, finally pulling her hand from the Doctor's and reaching back to take the Human Doctor's hand. "What? Are you some sort of absent minded professor or something?" She elbowed the duplicate in the ribs. "Looks like someone you'd bring home."

"Shall we get started then?"

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><p>The house was the same that the Doctor remembered from his first trip to that world with Rose and Mickey. It seemed like ages since they'd battled the Cybermen with Pete Tyler to save his world. He felt a sudden wave of emotion rush over him as he and his companions followed his Human self and Rose into the large house, the blonde chattering the whole way.<p>

She had explained their situation on the drive from Downing Street to her father's home. Between she, her father, mother, and the Human Doctor – that she simply called The Doctor – they had managed to watch the ten intruders closely enough to see them go out of the town, two at a time, to and disappear and reappear in flashes of yellow-white light. The air around them shifted each time that it happened and left the area highly unstable.

"What can you do to help?" Rose asked as she leaned against the railing on the stairs. "What do you do, Mr. Smith?"

"Bit of everything," the Doctor answered, not fully looking her in the eye. "Though I might know a bit about inter-dimensional travel."

"And how would you know about that?"

The Doctor flashed a quick smile, but said nothing.

"Right," Rose murmured, eyeing them all with a certain amount of suspicion. "If the Doctor trusts you, then I will. He's never led me wrong before. I don't think he'll start now."

"Got yourself a good one, Miss Tyler?"

"I do, Mr. Smith."

A childish delight shown in his green eyes and he jumped up, as if an idea had taken hold, and clapped his hands together. "Well then, let's get to it, shall we? Doctor, this doesn't sound like something that can wait even a moment. If they're constantly hopping dimensions, they're ripping holes back and forth between this one and whatever other one that they're going to."

"Do we even know what world they're going to?" Amy asked.

"That's what we have to find out," the Doctor answered.

* * *

><p>The two Doctors poured over the information at hand, leaving Amy and Rory very confused and Rose marginally so. Jackie made her presence known after a few hours as she bounced around the house, keeping up with a toddler that the Doctor had nearly forgotten about. Pete ducked in as the sun was setting, giving the newcomers a second look that his wife hadn't even thought to.<p>

"Rose? Who's this?" he asked, leaning against the doorframe and watching its occupants.

His daughter looked between the two men that were leaned over maps with her – one having just popped a jelly dodger into his mouth, leaving a bit of strawberry jelly on his face – and the redhead curled up in a chair a few feet away with her husband sitting on the arm. "The Doctor thinks that they can help. John Smith and Amy and Rory Pond."

"Oi! Williams!" Rory grumbled and was swatted for his efforts. "I give up."

"Might as well," the Doctor said around his jelly dodger. His eyes brightened when he saw Pete and he crossed the distance, grabbed his hand and shook it. "Pete Tyler! Good to see you!"

Pete stared at the stranger with a nervous sort of look. "Hello?"

"Right," the Doctor murmured, remembering his own difference in appearance. "Hello. I'm John Smith. I'm here to help you with your world hopping issue."

"You make it sound like we called someone in for pest control," Pete chuckled. "Where do you find these people, Doctor?"

"Oh, you know… Floating about."

"I need some air," Amy announced suddenly, standing and moving towards the door. "Just out this way, right?"

"I'll walk you out," Rose offered.

"No, really not necessary."

"Might be," the blonde answered with a shrug. "Place gets to be a bit of a maze sometimes." She moved to the door, giving a short wave over her shoulder. "You boys behave."

The Doctors looked at each other and then out the window to where the two young women were walking down the pathway. "This isn't good, is it?"

"I get the feeling not."

* * *

><p>"I really do just need a few minutes alone," Amy murmured as they stepped out into the evening air.<p>

"Listen, I think we can help each other," Rose said slowly, gauging the other woman's reaction. "I'm not saying that he hasn't turned up with people before. He has a habit of making friends wherever he goes, and he goes a lot of places, you see, but… But you lot. You're different."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah. So who are you? Where did you meet the Doctor?"

Amy turned to look at the pretty blonde, green eyes meeting brown. The words left her mouth before she could think to stop them. "I'll tell you who we are if you explain something to me."

"Yeah? And what's that?"

"How do you know the Doctor?"

"You want to know the same thing?" Rose asked, sounding somewhat confused.

"No. I don't mean the man that you're engaged to. I mean the Doctor. The last Time Lord. Who are you to him?"

Rose paled and she felt her body begin to shake. Before she could answer, though, an explosion lit the sky, turning the night as bright as day.

* * *

><p>AN: So there's always a chapter in every story that I write that I highly dislike. This is the one. Granted, it's going to be a very short multi chapter story, so I suppose to get it out of the way is a good thing, but I really just hate it. =( On a happier note, reviews would be much appreciated!

TBC


	3. Chapter 3

A/N: Sorry for the delay in updating! Never fails, once I say that I'm going to update every day, life happens. Shame. Hope you enjoy the Rose/11 interaction in this chapter!

**Chapter Three**

"That's it," Rose said as the light bounced off every solid object in sight. She turned to see Amy standing, wide-eyed, and staring deeply into it. The ginger woman seemed as mesmerized as the blonde remembered being when she first saw it. "Looks a bit like the light from the Heart of the TARDIS, yeah?"

"Yeah," Amy breathed, images flashing through her mind of a woman releasing the TARDIS' soul back into the machine and destroying House not too long before. She turned, spell broken very suddenly, and stared at the other woman. "Who _are_ you?"

"I could ask you the same thing. Think I have, actually."

Any further conversation was cut off as the blue jeep slammed to a stop – kicking up dust all around them – and the Human Doctor motioned from the driver's seat for them to hop in. His Time Lord counterpart sat next to him with Rory in the back.

"Come on, Pond," the Doctor grinned. "You saw it?"

"How could I have missed it?" the Scottish woman demanded, motioning to the dying light.

"It only last a few minutes. Hurry up," the driver demanded and the women climbed in, barely seated as he sped into action.

He'd been right, as the time that it took to reach the sight proved to leave the area with only a dull, small light to prove that something otherworldly had happened in that spot. The light, formed up in a mist-like state that was steadily shrinking and thinning out, reminded all observers of a duller version of the light that the TARDIS gave off when freed of her encasing. Also the same light of a regenerating Time Lord, Rose thought as she glanced over at John Smith.

The Doctor glanced at his former companion and waited until she was stooped with her back turned, closely examining something, before whipping out his sonic screwdriver and testing the air around the light.

"We've never been able to get here before it fully faded," the Human Doctor murmured in his ear, looking over his shoulder at the readout. "That's new."

"Old one fried after my regeneration," the Time Lord answered off-handedly. "It's reading out as residual Time Vortex energy."

"Vortex manipulator?"

"No," the green-eyed Doctor answered quietly, squinting at the information as if it might make more sense that way. "No, it isn't. Vortex manipulator's would never take someone through the walls of dimensions in one piece, even if you could rig something like Pete did that time."

"Those didn't use vortex energy."

"I know." The Doctor paused, looked at his human self with a gleam in his eye. "You know what that means, right?"

"What'd you boys find?" Rose asked and the Doctor pocketed his screwdriver quickly.

"Something new," the two Doctors answered together, grins spread across either of their faces, reflecting the excitement associated with discovering the unknown.

* * *

><p>The night was dwindling into early parts of the morning by the time they returned to the house. Amy and Rory were shown to their room and the Doctor to his for an assumed sleep. He was left alone in a large room with a bay window, his light off so as not to give away the wakeful hours, and he sat and stared at the stars shining above, sonic screwdriver in his hands and thoughts racing.<p>

It wasn't unusual for the TARDIS to decide _where_ she thought the Doctor and his companions should be going. She had told him as much, and he would have wagered quite a bit that their trip to Pete's world hadn't been an accident on the side of the space-time machine. Something was horribly amiss, and if whatever was hopping universes was coming from his own, it put everything that he strove to protect in danger.

He leaned back against the wall, a small sigh escaping his lips. He kept a lot from his companions over the years. There was really no point to hit on everything that happened. They shouldn't care – they usually did, but they really had no reason to – if he'd ever had children, or grandchildren, or who all that he'd traveled with, and he rarely divulged information without it being pried from him. Even so, he felt somewhat guilty over the fact that he hadn't explained the situation better to Amy. He didn't know why, but he felt as if she deserved that much. They all deserved that much. Maybe he was just afraid if they found out what had happened to the one he'd gotten closest to, they'd never stay.

Maybe she'd put it together just _why_ he never would get involved with a human.

He felt his chest contract as images sped through his mind of his time with Rose. All those times that they had been so close together and yet he'd pushed her away. He had never been able to tell her what she truly needed to hear – no matter if he'd been descending into the pit that might have been hell or leaving her on the shores of Bad Wolf Bay – or what he really felt. Now she was living the life that he'd asked her to live. She treated his Human self as she would have him and she looked happy. She really looked happy.

A soft knock at the door jerked him out of his thoughts and the Time Lord reached up to brush away the tears that he hadn't realized were slipping down his cheeks. He cleared his throat and inched towards the door, careful not the run over any stray furniture in the strange bedroom.

He opened the door to see Rose's retreating form, as if she'd given up waiting after only a moment. She turned, eyes wide and cheeks darkening slightly in embarrassment. "'allo. Didn't know if you'd be asleep or not…." She paused, taking in his coat and bowtie still in place. "Guess not. You fancy sitting in the dark in late hours?"

"You can see the stars better," the Doctor murmured without thinking, swallowing hard to clear his throat again. She hadn't changed, it seemed. He didn't know how many years had passed for her, but she didn't look as if she'd changed at all.

"Yeah. You got a moment?"

They stood staring at each other for several long moments, Rose waiting for an answer that the other seemed unable to give. As if he realized his delay, the Doctor nodded and stepped back into the room. She followed, not bothering to turn the lights on as she shut the door softly behind her and she stood and stared. Her dark eyes scanned over him, absorbing everything in his appearance and looking somewhat skeptical of what was going through her own mind. "This is crazy," she said at last.

"What is?"

"You. You're so much like him, but different. You come swanning in to save the day, and you just can't do that."

It was a new feeling to him, being lost for words. The Doctor stammered for a moment before finally finding his voice. "The Doctor asked my friends and me for our help, you see."

"Don't give me that," she snapped, her shoulders straightening and she held her chin up, eyes flashing dangerously. "He doesn't ask for help. That's who he is. He's bold and brash and he's going to get himself killed someday because he doesn't remember that he's only human. But you… You're too much like him – no, not the man down the hall, but _him_ – to not be. Always popping in and out. Sarah Jane tried to warn me. You just up and leave."

The Doctor felt something inside of him crash. She knew. How did she know? His face had changed. Hell, his very being had changed to some extent, and she shouldn't have known. He'd been so very, very careful…

She was crying. He'd never handled crying well.

"Don't deny it," she whispered angrily through her tears. "Please, just don't."

"Rose…."

Their eyes met for a moment. He hadn't spoken her name aloud to her since they'd arrived, and he found that it left his lips too easily. His voice took on a tone that he had long since left behind and his hearts clenched in his chest.

The door burst open, light flooding the room and washing over the two people who stood and stared at each other. Rose's face was tear-streaked and the Doctor didn't look much better as he struggled to keep his own composure. He finally managed to glance over and find his Human self standing in the doorway, seemingly surprised to find his fiancé standing alone in a dark room with a man that was not exactly him.

"Am I interrupting something?"

"No," Rose murmured, shaking her head and turning. "Just a bit of a chat with Mr. Smith. Think I should go turn in for the night."

The Human Doctor caught her arm on her way out and leaned forward to whisper something into her ear, his lips brushing her cheek as she smiled back at him and left. Brown eyes turned to green and he flipped the lights on. "Nice chat?"

"She came to me," the Doctor said defensively.

"Not that you haven't given her a reason to. You haven't taken your eyes off her very long since you arrived."

"Might I remind you that you were the one that thought this was a good idea?"

The taller man frowned slightly, looking as if he were going to give a harsh retort, but decided better of it. "Yes. I was," he said instead and his shoulders slumped. "I really haven't been myself lately."

"Well, who could blame you," the Doctor asked with a shrug. "Man comes in here with a different face that used to be you and you used be him and your fiancé…. Yeah. I'm going to stop there. I'm digging my hole deeper."

"Yeah you are. Never could resist talking."

"One of my finest qualities."

"One of our finest qualities," the other laughed. He took a moment and crossed the room, eyes scanning the stars above. "I miss it, you know, but there's something to be said for being with her. I don't know how you left her behind."

"With great difficulty."

"She'd go with you in an instant."

"But she has you now, and that's better. She'll age. You'll age. There won't be anyone left behind."

"There's _always_ someone left behind, Doctor," the human growled. He took a long, shaky breath, looking as if the day topped with the outburst had sapped most of his seemingly boundless energy from him. "I won't let it be her," he vowed after a moment, determination taking the place of irritation.

"Rose is strong."

"Yes, but she can only have someone taken from her so many times." He paused, closing his eyes and turning his face towards the sky. "You love her still?"

"That's an unfair question."

"Why? It's a yes or a no."

"She's your fiancé."

"And she loved you first."

"No, she loved the Doctor. We're both the Doctor."

"No," the human murmured, shaking his head. "I'm the copy that was made from a regeneration that should have never happened the way it did. She calls me the Doctor. She treats me the same as she always treated you… mostly. I can see it in her eyes, though. She misses you."

"I'm not here to take her away."

"I know."

"Then what is this all about?"

"I need to know… I need to know that if something happens to me that you can keep on protecting her. I can only do so much. I'm… I'm only human, after all," he said with a mirthless laugh.

The Doctor sighed, feeling as if he were fighting a losing battle. "I think…. I think it would be best for us to find out what this is and then for Amy, Rory, and I to return to our universe. We didn't exactly leave at a good time."

"Worlds to save?"

"Something like that." The Doctor stopped, eyes wide for a moment before reaching into his coat pocket for his screwdriver. It buzzed, the green light on it growing brighter.

"What's going on?" the Human Doctor asked, watching it carefully.

"They're coming back."

* * *

><p>TBC<p> 


	4. Chapter 4

A/N: So, I've been working up to this end scene the whole story. It turned out... mostly like I had in my mind. Let me know what you think!

**Chapter Four**

If they had the time to alert the others in the house, they didn't take it. Both Doctors ran as hard and as fast as they could, uncaring of noise or disruption the wee hours of the morning. Lights flashed on all over the house in their wake as the front door slammed behind them.

Amy pulled her robe closer around her shoulders as she stood and stared at the emptiness that the two had left behind them. Rory was just managing to sit up, still exhausted, and shot her a questioning look.

"Come on," Rose said, suddenly at her side.

"Where'd they go?"

"The both of them take off without as much as a warning. Where do you think they went?" She paused, expression softening. "Amy, I need to know. I need to hear it. Is your John Smith the Doctor?"

The ginger woman pressed her lips together tightly and frowned. "I don't even really know who you are."

"My name is Rose Tyler. I was nobody until 2005 when I got caught up with an alien that could turn plastic to moving, living creatures. The shop I worked in blew up, and I would have died then too, but there was a man there that took my hand and told me to run." Rose grit her teeth, trying to gain control over her raging emotions. "We ran and ran until something we could break through caught up and I was stuck over here."

"You traveled with him?"

"He had a different face, but yeah. I did."

"Different face?" Rory asked from behind, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes. "Is that the regeneration that River talks about?"

"Got to be," Amy acknowledged. She looked back at Rose, eyeing her carefully. She couldn't decide if she wanted to trust her or not. The passion that the elder woman spoke with was hard to overlook, almost as if it couldn't be feigned, but the Doctor had never spoken to her of a Rose Tyler. Even so, he'd never spoken of any former companions by name. They were just simply people he'd traveled with, gone here and there with, kept company of, and then the person seemed to switch. Sometimes they were male, sometimes female, human, alien, he even mentioned a robot dog in an off-handed conversation once, but never did he call them by name. It was as if when he called them by name he would be forced to remember them, and perhaps even forced to recount just what had happened to them. She'd seen how he'd looked at this woman, and she remembered how flustered he'd become when trying to explain why he refused to become romantically entangled with a human. They aged, he did not. He just changed.

"Okay."

"Okay what?" Rose demanded.

"Okay, let's go save the Doctor."

* * *

><p>The Human Doctor's jeep was set up with multiple computer screens inside, showing signs of his own tinkering and Torchwood technology combined. The readings showed heightened vortex energy just beyond where they were and they could see the light expanding, as if the fabric of the universe was opening up to allow someone through. It exploded, rather suddenly, and the light landed closer than they had anticipated, sending the jeep spinning and the two Doctors tumbling out of it and rolling through the dirt.<p>

The Time Lord hit hard, finally rolling to a stop and finding himself staring up at the sky. He let out a small groan as he struggled to roll over and sit up, but stopped when dusty boots came into view. He heard his human counterpart give out a sharp cry and saw him struggling with one of the creatures out of the corner of his eye. Slowly, very deliberately, he looked up at the ones standing around him.

Rose and her human Doctor had described these visitors to be very human in appearance, but that was obviously a disguise as the creature that peered down at the Doctor now was all scars and wrinkles in skin, no hair, and piercing yellow eyes with red trim. When it spoke, its voice gave a low, echoing sort of growl and sounded as if it might have been masculine. It leaned down, carefully, and took a long sniff, causing the Doctor to shift back and find that he was surrounded. "Your identity has been confirmed," the sniffing alien announced. "The Doctor is confirmed."

"Check again!" another one hissed. "You mistook that one last time!"

The first growled, causing the second to cower back. "He smells of new travel and of a fresher regeneration. Of a full regeneration some time ago."

"Really have lost count," the Doctor said, finally getting to the point that he could stand and found himself standing nose to almost-nose with the alien. "You know, hopping back and forth and to and fro, but yes. Yes, I am the Doctor. And who might you be, if you pull me all the way from another dimension just to speak with me."

"We have not pulled you from another dimension to speak with you."

"Doctor, get out of here!" the Human Doctor yelled, thrashing about against his restrainer.

"Well," the Doctor drawled, not looking at his other self as he spoke, but instead staring straight into those yellow-red eyes, "just what am I here for? You seem to have mistaken him for me, which he is, sort of, but that doesn't seem to suit your purpose, am I right? So, you must need a Time Lord, not just the Doctor."

"Correct." The alien motioned and the circle expanded, leaving only itself, the two Doctors, and the one holding the human version in the middle. The Human Doctor was forced down onto his knees; eyes alight with anger and struggling.

"So what is he now, a hostage? Bit strange, wouldn't you say, using someone's own self against them for a hostage? Oh, that'll turn you around a bit, won't it?"

"We have not pulled you from another dimension to speak with you."

"Yeah, think you said that."

"We have pulled you from another dimension to destroy you."

"They're the Vreshians, Doctor," the lone human managed as the alien behind him took a tighter grip. "Torchwood took one of them, without the disguise, about a month ago."

The Doctor's eyes widened and he stared at their captors. "That's not possible. The Vreshians don't look much different than humans. Bit prettier, maybe, but not… What happened?"

"We have pulled you from another dimension to destroy you."

"Yes, you've said that. But you were a peaceful race. You never participated in any of the wars, never made enemies of anyone. You're one of the few races that managed to stay out of the Last Great Time War! What… why would you risk ripping a hole in this universe and our own just to bring me here? What have I done?"

"It is not what you have done, Doctor, but what you will do."

"And what's that?"

A quiet murmuring echoed through the circle of Vreshians and their leader took a step closer. "My brothers," he announced, sweeping on scarred, shriveled arm out to those around them. "I bring you the Doctor, the last of the Time Lords. Destroyer of World and devil amongst us. The Pandorica could not hold him, his ship would not be destroyed, but here we will have our revenge."

"What revenge?" the Doctor demanded. "What the hell are you talking about?"

The Vreshian leader continued on, pacing as he spoke and opening the circle of his fellow Vreshians. The Human Doctor was shuffled over next to his Time Lord self and the two watched carefully, unspoken plans between them.

"We have ripped many holes between the worlds, and we will use that to destroy the place that the Doctor loves most. We will destroy the Earth and watch his tears before his death. He will mourn his companions both past and present as their death cries sound in his ears."

"The jeep's rigged with a special devices to read tears in the fabric of the universe," the Human Doctor murmured under his breath.

Green eyes lit at the words. "If we could get over there, we could use it to open one halfway-"

"-and send them through to the Void."

"Would the systems be able to close it back up?"

"Yes."

The Vreshian leader turned to the Doctor. "Do you wish to say anything before the end?"

"You're asking if I want a chance to talk?" the Doctor asked as he stuffed his hands in his pockets, feeling the screwdriver there. He'd gotten a good look at the jeep, fully rigged with anything that a bored Time Lord would have put into it. If he could switch his sonic screwdriver around and then plug it into the jeep, he'd be able to put their plan in with just the touch of a button. "Well, I would like to say this: I've known the Vreshian for years. I've known a lot of cultures for years, and I know they change, but the core of the culture really doesn't change all that much." He began pacing, shoes sinking slightly into the soft ground. The Vreshians around him began hissing and rearing up in defense.

"And yet here they are," the other Doctor said with a shrug, his own dark eyes meeting his counterpart's for a brief moment. "Threatening a level five, fully established world. As if they had never heard of the Shadow Proclamation." He paused, eyes scanning the nervous group of aliens. "Or what happens to those that threaten the humans that the Doctor loves."

"Ooooh," the Time Lord laughed, "don't bore them with those old stories. Nothing to worry this with you know… Just that the Earth – both Earths, either side and both – are protected. You obviously know me, so you must know… Really, shouldn't they know?"

"They must."

"Right. You really must know that I will stop at nothing to protect those that I love."

"That is enough, Doctor. You are finished."

"No. You don't get to interrupt me. Not after you pulled one of the dumbest stunts next to threatening my friends."

"And what is that?"

The two Doctors looked at each other and nodded as they said, "You let us talk."

The Time Lord lunged for the jeep, sonic screwdriver in hand. It linked as if it had always been made to do so and a bright green light erupted from the vehicle. The Vreshians gave a loud howl of fear as the portals opened up against them, not to the other side, but to the Void their people had always so carefully avoided. One by one they began to fall in, screams and howls filling the night. Their leader crawled his way forward, reaching a shriveled hand towards the Time Lord.

"This isn't over," he vowed. "You don't know what you are to do!"

"You're right," the Doctor answered. "Only what you have done, and what I've done today to stop you."

"I won't let you destroy my home," the Vreshian leader cried out, hand clutching a sonic blaster.

The world seemed to slow with cries of pain and fear falling into the backdrop, the Human Doctor calling out to his Time Lord self, and a ray of green, sonic light hitting the latter directly in the chest. The Doctor slumped back against the jeep as the holes closed, pulling his attacker in with it.

Above all, as silence fell, Rose and Amy could be heard. They were still far away, but their voices carried over the distance as the Doctor lay half propped against the jeep. His breaths were coming in short gasps and he could feel every cell of his body begin the protest of the regeneration process. He didn't want to go. He never wanted to go. Every time, he feared, that he might grow further and further away from those that he cared about and change into something that he could not live with.

"Can you hear me?"

The Doctor blinked his eyes open, not realizing they had been shut, and slowly came to focus on his human self. "Might want to stand back," he managed through gritted teeth. "No getting out of this one."

"There is," the other said with a determined look. He watched as golden light began to pulse through the Time Lord's veins, beginning the process in full. "Take my hand."

"Are you insane? There's no telling what sort of effect that'll have. You were created out of-"

"I know how I was created," the other snapped, "but Rose has to have her Doctor. "

"She has you."

"I'm dying."

The two looked at each other for a long moment until a shudder of pain from the dying Time Lord shook the stare. "You… what? What?"

"I've been sick for some time. I won't last much longer as it is, and Rose needs _her_ Doctor. Not just any old, daft face. I can't leave her alone, but I don't have any choice. I'm mortal, remember? Only human. But you... You're her Doctor. You could be again."

"I can't…"

"You can. You're just scared."

"We don't even know it would work."

"When has that ever stopped us before?" He looked up. "They're coming and you don't have much time." Moments ticked by as he held out his hand, waiting, and the golden light shown stronger from the dying alien. "Stubborn," he growled at last, grabbing onto the other's shoulder and they were both engulfed in the regeneration light.

* * *

><p>AN: Please, feed my addiction and review =)


	5. Chapter 5

A/N: I'm sorry for the delay! I know I'd promised to get this up ASAP, but life just seems to get in the way. I guess that happens with an 8-5 sort of job, huh?

**Chapter Five**

Rose heard Amy give a short gasp as they watched the impossible happen. How many times, she thought. How many times did she have to watch him die? Someday he wouldn't get up. Someday he was going to lie there, eyes closed and hearts stopped, and she'd never be able to quietly dream of the day she heard the TARDIS' engines once more. He'd never flash that goofy, mischievous grin that told her that, no matter what form his body took, he would always be her Doctor, ready to fly them into the impossible. He would never again take her hand, fingers interlocked, with the single word of _run_ between them.

Even with her Human Doctor by her side, it would all come to an end.

"**_DOCTOR_**!" Amy screamed.

Rory grabbed her by both arms, pulling her back. "No! Look! He's doing that thing again! That thing where he glows, and then he changes. He's just going to look different, Amy, that's all. That's what River said."

"He's not just going to look different," Rose murmured, tears standing in her eyes. "He's going to _be_ different. He told me once, after I saw him change, that he's always scared of what part of himself he'll lose. Like… Like he won't be himself someday. That he'll forget something or something will change just enough that he won't be anything that anyone recognizes."

"He wouldn't," Amy snapped, as if Rose wanted to speak the worlds. "He couldn't."

"It's not his choice. It's that or die."

The light exploded, reaching further than Rose knew it to reach the two times she'd seen before. Her eyes widened as regeneration energy danced through the darkened sky, reaching up to the faintest hints of the sun coming up and out of the east. Anything in its path would be blasted away, and she couldn't see either Doctor through it.

Just as suddenly as it had exploded, it stopped, and both women took off towards the area. They didn't know what they would find, but they knew they had to find him.

The early morning hour was still as flames licked at the dirt from the burning jeep, heating a chilly night. Rose stopped suddenly, seeing only one tall, lean figure lying facedown on the ground. He hadn't made it. It had gone wrong, somehow, and only the Human Doctor had made it. She heard Amy give a shriek of pain as she sunk to the ground, green eyes wide and tears streaming down her pale face. The blonde knew that she should try to comfort the poor girl, but she didn't think that she had enough inside of her to help anyone else.

Slowly, very slowly, she approached the still form, until she was close enough to kneel beside him and touch his shoulder. He gave a low groan and brown eyes blinked open and he sat up in a flash. "Don't!" he cried. He stopped, disoriented, and blinked at her. "Rose?" He turned, scanning the area and looking for his other self. "Where is he?"

"He didn't make it," Rose managed before flinging herself into his arms, nearly sending them both tumbling back again, and buried her face in his chest to cry.

The Doctor wrapped his thin arms around her, pulling her close. "I'm so sorry," he whispered, nose buried in her hair. "I'm so, so sorry. I don't know what he was thinking… He thought… He seemed to think that it could all go back, but I don't know how. There's never been a way to reverse a regeneration, but, then again, there's never been a meta-crisis incident before either."

"What?" Rose asked, sitting up and looking at him. They stared at each other for a long moment, realizing that something was wrong in their communication, before she leaned forward again, ear to his chest. Two steady heartbeats echoed in her ear. They were a bit fast, but they were there and they were strong. She sat back, taking in his dirty and charred form. His clothes had been burned by the shots of energy, but upon closer examination, she saw that they were not the clothes that the Human Doctor had been wearing that night, but the tweed jacket, shirt, suspenders, and bow tie. His pants were ripped at the knees, but no customary trainers rested on his feet. Rose felt the breath leave her lungs as she managed, "_Doctor_."

"Well who else?" the Time Lord grumbled.

"You're back."

"What?"

"You… You look like you. Like my Doctor."

"What?" He was on his feet now, hands waving around wildly as he spoke. "I can't believe it worked! Wooooow, that's interesting! Really, really interesting. It's like we melded back together. It must have been the residual energy from his creation! He knew about it, he had to have."

"What happened to him?"

"He's… Well, he's me, and I'm him, but we're me again. He's here." The Doctor tapped his head with one finger. "It's like remembering a dream, but I can remember what happened when he was here with you. It's like I was here all along, and out there, and here…. That's weird."

"Doctor?"

"It's really, really weird! It's like I've been in all these places at once. Even I can't be at two places in once… well, I can be in the same place at once, but not really two places. That takes some real planning, and not that I remember them both at the _exact_ same time! Like, when Amy and I were saving Vincent, you and I were…. Woh." His eyes grew wide. "We… really?"

"Doctor!"

"No, really? Did we?"

Rose felt her face heating up and she slapped him on the arm, grabbing his tattered sleeve so that he had to look where she was pointing. "Focus," she hissed, trying to ignore her own embarrassment as she motioned towards the traumatized Scottish woman and her husband who stood only a few yards away.

"Oh," the Doctor managed, realization setting in.

"How can he be dead, Rory," Amy sobbed. "He can't die for another two hundred years!"

The Doctor stood straight, his attention keenly placed on Amy now. Any worry for her emotional state was set aside with this words and he was eyed her carefully. "What do you mean by that?"

She turned tear-filled eyes to him. "What do you care? You're just his copy."

"Oi! And if I am?"

"How did you get out of it and he didn't?"

"Because we both got out of it."

"How so?" Rory piped up, looking a bit disturbed.

The Doctor flashed them a grin. "It's me." He approached Amy, but she moved away, clinging to Rory as she did.

"You're not the Doctor I've known most of my life. You're just a copy."

"No, I'm him."

"You look like the other one."

"Actually, the other one looked like me, and now I look like me…. Or like I did, and now do." He stopped, eyes beginning to cross. "Timey-wimey."

Amy gave a sniff. "Prove it. Swear on something that the Doctor and I knew."

The Doctor gave a short, lopsided smile, a not at all distant memory playing through his mind of a time when he'd made the same demand of her. "Fish fingers and custard," he whispered, almost so no one else could hear. He saw her begin to perk, but still keep a wary eye on him. "And apples with smiley faces that a mum that you didn't know at the time used to carve into them, and one, just one, showed up twelve years later, good as new."

Several moments ticked by in silence and it was as if no one breathed. Rose watched carefully, remembering her own feelings of betrayal and confusion from the first time she had seen the Doctor regenerate. Now he had changed back and, while she had regained her Doctor, Amy was staring at a new face that she did not know. She remembered it, and she remembered how much it hurt.

In a blur of ginger Amy launched herself into the Doctor's arms, wrapping her arms around his neck. "You look so funny," she whispered.

"I always liked this look," he answered her with a laugh and a tight hug, swinging her around slightly. "I'm still me, though."

"But Rose said…."

The Doctor put her down. "What did Rose say?" he demanded with a half playful glare at the blonde.

"She said that you worried about-"

"Oh, I have to worry. It's fine, that's why you leave all the worrying to me. I've had enough years to know, and I'll tell you, this is not something to worry about."

"You don't worry about things you should all the time," Amy argued.

"Yeah, I'll have to agree there," Rose chimed in.

"Oi! That does not mean you can gang up on me!" the Doctor complained loudly as Amy finally released him.

"So those things are gone then?"

The Doctor looked at his former companion, the burst of energy seeming to fade rather suddenly and he gave her a tired smile. "All gone," he assured her. "But you know what I need now?"

"What's that?"

"A bit of tea," he said and collapsed straight to the ground.

* * *

><p>An: Not done yet! The Amy and Doctor scene was also another one that I've had playing in my head. I've been toying with the idea of turning 11 back into 10, but I wondered how Amy would take it. I couldn't imagine that it would go over very well, since he is her Raggedy Doctor and all that, but perhaps swearing on fish fingers and custard would make it better.

TBC


End file.
